Northern governors recommit to restoring peace, unity – Lalong

The Northern Governor’s Forum (NGF) has renewed its commitment to restoring peace and unity in the region.

The Chairman of NGF and Gov. Simon Lalong of Plateau expressed the Northern governors position on Wednesday in Zaria.

Lalong spoke when he visited his Alma Mata, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), where he met with the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Kabir Bala, and other principal officers of the university.

The governor said the forum had scheduled a meeting to hold in Kaduna on Thursday and the meeting would focus mainly on peace and unity in the region.

He stressed that there should be peace and unity in the North irrespective of religious differences and ethnic affiliations to enable progress and development to the region.

Lalong said that northern leaders should emulate the late Premier of the region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, who always defended the right of the North all his life.

He also explained that Sardauna’s priority was agriculture and that the North’s comparative advantage was still agriculture.

“Today is a very good moment for me to be in ABU, my Alma Mata; I’m here representing the NGF and we can’t be talking of agriculture at our forum without going to ABU for their input,” he said.

The governor stressed that all hands must be on deck to ensure that Nigeria remained one, given its diversity and that all acts that would lead to its disintegration should totally be condemned.

Lalong described ABU as the largest tertiary institution in Sub-Saharan Africa, and commended the vice-chancellor and other key stakeholders for sustaining the Sardauna’s legacy.

Responding, the vice chancellor described the visit of the governor as “auspicious”.

Bala told the governor that efforts were now being made to restore the prestige of the university and that all hands must be on deck to ensure its sustainability.

He noted that agriculture still remained the strongest point of the university, given the strength of its Agric Complex, a model which could not be found anywhere in the world.

The governor was accompanied by Kaduna State Commissioner for Business Innovation and Technology, Mr Idris Nyaf, who represented Gov. Nasir El-Rufa’i, and Secretary to Plateau Government, Prof. Danladi Abok-Atu.